ENMAX Residential Offers and Rates

ENMAX is one of the largest competitive retailers in Alberta, and offers electricity and natural gas options for residents throughout Alberta with its EasyMax product. In this article we describe ENMAX's retail energy plans in depth.

Please note that the prices listed below are only for the cost of energy supply and administration costs, and do not take into account the costs of energy distribution, transmission or taxes. Total energy costs will be greater than what is listed. Also note that ENMAX's prices vary slightly by location. For references purposes, we have chosen to display prices for Calgary.

ENMAX Features

Depending on the plan that you have, choosing ENMAX as your competitive energy supplier can mean:

• You can cancel at any time (with 30 days' notice)
• Ability to switch between fixed and floating prices with no penalty
• No cancellation fees

ENMAX EasyMax Plan

ENMAX's principal offer is the EasyMax plan. The ENMAX EasyMax offer can be purchased as a dual fuel plan, or for either electricity or gas. Its principal feature is its flexibility; on the EasyMax plan you have the option of switching between fixed and floating rates up to once a month. EasyMax prices have historically been quite low, and in the past have priced below the regulated rates for electricity and gas. Enmax currently offers two contract terms for the EasyMax plan, at three and five years.

EasyMax Features

• Choose between fixed or floating electricity rates: 3 years at 6.79¢/kWh, 5 years at 6.99¢/kWh for fixed rates, or floating market rate + 1¢ per kWh if you signed up for EasyMax between June 1, 2012 and June 28, 2015. As of June 29th, 2015, EasyMax floating rates are the same rate as the regulated rate option in your area.
• Fixed or floating natural gas rates: $4.99/GJ (for both 3- and 5-year terms), or choose the floating rate (market rate + 99¢ per GJ)

EasyMax Fixed Rates

EasyMax Floating Rates

EasyMax Dual Fuel

Monthly Prices
Electricity Rate - floating*	6.82 ¢/kWh
Gas Rate - floating*	$5.22/GJ
Monthly Administration Fee	$7.10
Annual Costs
Annual Cost (for 8000 kWh)	$545.60
Annual Cost* (for 140 GJ)	$730.80
Annual Cost of Monthly Administration Fee	$170.40
Total Annual Cost (Electricity Cost + Gas + Administration Fees)	$1446.80

*Floating rates are the historical average for Calgary prices for one year (February 2014 - January 2015)

ENMAX EasyMax Electricity Only

Fixed Electricity

Floating Electricity Price Option

*Note that as of June 29th, 2015, Enmax's floating rate will be equivalent to the regulated rate option

**Annual cost based on historical February 2014 - January 2015 prices for the city of Calgary (6.82 ¢/kWc). Rates vary slightly by region (usually by no more than 0.1 ¢/kWh)

ENMAX EasyMax Gas Only

Fixed Gas

Floating Gas

*Annual cost based on historical February 2014 - January 2015 natural gas rates for the city of Calgary, which were an average of $5.22/GJ (including transaction fee). Rates vary slightly by region (usually by no more than 1 ¢/GJ)

Choose Light

Enmax recently launched a new product called Choose Light, a three-year dual fuel option, that offers fixed rate electricity at 6.79¢/kWh and fixed rate gas at $4.99/GJ. The Choose Light option includes the same prices as the EasyMax three year options, but includes a Philips Hue starter kit, which allows you to create a personal lighting environment using a smart device as your control centre. The starter kit includes three Hue A19 LED light bulbs, one Hue bridge, a power supply for Hue bridge, and a LAN cable to connect the Hue bridge to a Wi-Fi router. Interested customers should note that the Choose Light product comes with a $228.38 Cost Recovery Fee for early termination.

Our Take on ENMAX's Offers

ENMAX's fixed rates were reduced recently, which makes them more attractive, particularly given the  are the same as what other larger competitive energy retailers in Alberta (Encor, Direct Energy, and Just Energy) offer for five year natural gas or electricity.

If you are looking for a fixed electricity rate, we recommend that you check out some of the smaller energy suppliers, as they are often able to offer lower fixed rates than that of the larger competitive retailers (albeit for shorter time periods), and with smaller administration fees.

Until recently, we would have recommended choosing flexible prices with ENMAX, as flexible prices for electricity and gas are generally cheaper over the long run, and in the past worked out to be less than the regulated rate option (for example, the EasyMax floating rate average from February 2014 to January 2015 was 6.82¢/kWh, compared to 7.10¢/kWh for the ENMAX RRO average). However, ENMAX has recently changed its policy for floating electricity rates, which will now match local regulated rate option prices. What this means for the consumer remains to be seen.

Note that ENMAX allows you to switch between fixed and floating rates at no cost, so if you think that the price of electricity or gas will increase you can always switch to a fixed rate until you think prices will decrease. Keep in mind, however, that you will only be able to switch to whatever rates ENMAX currently offers (i.e. you cannot switch to back to any previous rates you might have been paying in the past).

Signing Up With ENMAX

Check out our article on Your Account With ENMAX to find out more about your service with the retailer, as well as to find out how to sign up for service with ENMAX. We also recommend that you check out some of the customer reviews for ENMAX as well as customer reviews for other energy suppliers before you make your final decision.